All New England Books

The Hot Wiener: A Rhode Island Icon

The Hot Wiener: A Rhode Island
Icon

By Grace Lentini

Hot wieners are firmly planted in
Rhode Island’s culinary psyche. They’re to the Ocean State what cheesesteak is
to Philly, what barbecue is to Kansas City and what street tacos are to Los
Angeles. Everyone has the wienie joint (their words, not ours) they grew up
with, their gold standard against which all others are judged. There’s The
Original New York System on Smith Street in Providence, Olneyville NY System, Sparky’s
Coney Island System in East Providence (now closed), Wein-O-Rama in Cranston,
Rod’s Grille in Warren, New York Lunch in Woonsocket, Sam’s New York System in
North Providence, Snoopy’s Diner in North Kingstown and plenty more scattered
throughout.

We wanted to know who served the
very first hot wiener, so we asked wienie joint owners across the state, and
the answer was always the same: hot wieners started at the Original New York
System (424 Smith Street, Providence. 331-5349). It’s the OG of the wienie.

No matter where you go, getting
them “all the way” is always the same: steamed bun, wienie, mustard, meat
sauce, onion, celery salt. Of course you don’t have to get them all the way,
but what fun is that? That’s like getting a cheesesteak without the cheese: you
just don’t do it. However, what differs joint to joint is the meat sauce, with
each place remaining as true as possible to their original recipe, some over 70
years old.

Iconic Ingredients

There are distinct differences
between hot dogs and hot wieners: hot dogs are typically very processed, with a
hodge podge of different cuts of meat. Hot wieners on the other hand are made
with beef, pork, veal, spices and one preservative. There are two types of hot
wieners that wienie joints use: ones in a natural casing, and ones without.
According to Greg Stevens, the owner of Olneyville NY System(18 Plainfield
Street, Providence. 621-9500, OlneyvilleNewYorkSystem.com) who is directly
related to the family who first served hot wieners in RI, it’s tradition to
serve hot wieners that have a natural casing. The wieners with a casing come as
one long rope, meaning that each wiener must be cut by hand. Most joints get
theirs from either Little Rhody Brand Frankfurts and Wieners (831-0815,
LittleRhodyHotdogs.com), which makes skinless and rope wieners, or from All
American (294-5455, All-American-Foods.com), who carry Marcello’s skinless,
pre-formed wieners.

The consensus on hot wiener buns
is that Homestead Baking Company of East Providence (145 North Broadway,
Rumford. 434-0551, HomesteadBaking.com) bakes the buns that virtually everyone
uses. “We make [the buns] sweeter than the typical hot dog roll,” says
Homestead General Manager TJ Pascalides. “Restaurants are super particular
about how they steam them up. Everyone has a different steamer and everyone
leaves them in for a different amount of time, so we have to use a strong
flour.”

To get an idea of the demand for
the buns, Homestead receives shipments of 200,000 pounds of spring wheat flour
at a time via railway. Three railway cars fit alongside the bakery, where the
flour is then moved to three flour silos. One silo holds 150,000 pounds of
flour, the other two hold 125,000 pounds each. Just as the meat sauce recipes
never change at the restaurants, the bun recipe has also remained the same:
sugar, water, flour and yeast.

As far as the onions sprinkled on
top of the wieners, survey says that white onions are used. Everyone uses
celery salt, although any information about the brand was held close to the
vest. The mustard? Well, it’s not French’s. That’s about all the info the
owners were willing to reveal. Same with the sauce. Everyone is tight lipped
about their secret recipes, but some said that one of the most important
factors in making a perfectly spreadable meat sauce is to use 70/30 ground
beef. Fat is flavor, and no one’s eating a hot wiener for its health benefits.

Who Served them First?

It was in the early 1900s that
Greek immigrants came to New York, passing through Ellis Island and settling in
Brooklyn (most likely in the Coney Island section). As the Greeks moved out of
Brooklyn and across the country, they brought with them and served up a form of
hot dog or hot wiener which they covered in a Coney Island meat sauce.

We caught up with Greg to learn
about his family history, and where the first hot wiener was served. As the
story goes, Augustus Pappas and his son Ernie opened the Original New York
System on Smith Street in Providence in 1927. In the late 1930s, Augustus
Pappas fell ill, so Ernie called on his cousins Anthony and Nicholas
Stavrianakos (Greg’s great grandfather and grandfather, respectively) to help
run the restaurant. In 1933, Greg’s father, Peter, was born in New York where
his name was shortened from Stavrianakos to Stevens. In 1946, Ernie no longer
needed help running the Smith Street location. His son Gus eventually took over
in the ‘60s, running the place until he retired in 2014. Once Gus retired, the
business changed ownership and eventually had its doors closed for ten months.
This past July, restaurateur Taner Zoprak bought the business, and plans to
keep to the original recipes.

Back to Anthony and Nicholas. The
father and son team branched out on their own after leaving the Original New
York System and bought a small restaurant located at 11 Olneyville Square
(where the bar Lonely Street is currently located). The restaurant was located
right next to a taxi stand, which in 1954 was built over into a restaurant (the
current location of Olneyville NY System). Anthony and Nicholas bought that
space in 1964, and have been there ever since. In 1957 Nicholas passed away,
and in 1958, Anthony passed away at age 97, working until his last day. Greg’s
father Peter took over the business in 1958. Greg was born in 1960, and when he
was old enough he worked at Olneyville NY System on weekends and during the
summers. At the ripe age of 15 he knew he was going to join the family
business, and in 1979 he started working full time, side by side with his dad
until the early ‘90s when Peter retired. Greg and his sister Stephanie
Stevens-Turini have operated the restaurant ever since.

More Wienie Joints

The Original New York System and
Olneyville NY System opened their restaurants with the express goal of being
hot wiener joints. Of course there’s plenty else on their menus, but folks
typically go there for the wienies. Other restaurants have followed suit, while
others have simply added hot wieners to their menu to get folks through the
door.

Rod’s Grille in Warren in one of
the restaurants that has had hot wieners on their menu since the day they
opened in 1955. Meghan Rodrigues is the fourth generation to work at Rod’s
Grille and credits her great grandmother with creating the meat sauce they use
until this day. “My dad, grandmother or I make the sauce,” she says. “No one
else knows the recipe. You have to follow every single step of the recipe or
the taste will change.” Unlike the sauce at either the Original New York System
or Olneyville, there is a touch of spice in it, which slowly builds as you eat
it. Meghan also puts less onions on it compared to other places; she doesn’t
want the onions to overpower the secret sauce. The sauce is so popular that
their regulars regularly add it to other menu items, like the burgers.

The Future of Hot Wieners

One thing that rings true at
every hot wiener restaurant is the need to stay true to the ingredients. “We’ve
tried other products and they just don’t taste the same,” says Meghan
Rodrigues. Greg Stevens of Olneyville is of the same mind. “Do not change a
thing. That’s the theory with Olneyville NY System,” he says. “When people come
in and have their hot wiener and coffee milk I’ll ask, ‘does it taste exactly
as you remember?’ If they say yes, that’s the best compliment I can get.
Keeping everything the same… it’s harder than it looks.”

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The hot wiener or New York System wiener

The hot wiener or New York System wiener is a staple of the food culture of Rhode Island. It is typically made from a small, thin frankfurter made of veal and pork, thus giving it a different taste from a traditional hot dog made of beef. Once placed in a steamed bun, the wiener is topped with a meat sauce seasoned with a myriad of spices like cumin, paprika, chili powder and allspice, which is itself covered in finely chopped onions, celery salt and yellow mustard.

Wiener Sites...there just wasn't any other name that fit

The term New York System

The term New York System originated in the early 1900s, when hot dogs began appearing in Rhode Island but were still associated primarily with New York. Although now referred to exclusively as wieners, "New York System" is still used to advertise the distinct style of preparation refined by Providence's Greek immigrant community in the 1940s.

The traditional New York System preparation

The traditional New York System preparation has the cook balancing as many as dozens of buns along his forearm and applying the toppings with his free hand, a method called "up the arm." Because of their size, patrons will often order three or four wieners at once. Wieners with all of the standard toppings are ordered "all the way."

The Olneyville New York System

Olneyville New York System, in Providence's Olneyville neighborhood, is often cited as the "definitive" or "quintessential" vendor and dates to its opening by Greek immigrant Anthony Stevens in 1946. Stevens' cousin Gust Pappas ran Original New York System in the Smith Hill neighborhood, which claims its own founding as 1927. Still another institution, Coney Island System, claims an earlier date of 1915. There are dozens of establishments across the state that offer wieners, and the question of which is "best" is often contentious among residents

Del's Lemonade

If you are looking for a place to go for a nice cool non alcoholic drink, then Del's serves frozen lemonades. Reason enough to make it to our top restaurant list. These can be found all over Rhode Island, and they are sold at stands and at corner shops through out town. The best way to drink it is straight from the cup, while the ice slowly melts away. What more can you ask on sweaty hot summer days.

powwow \POU-wou\, verb:. To confer. . A ceremony, esp. one accompanied by magic, feasting, and dancing, performed for the cure of disease, success in a hunt, etc.. A council or conference of or with Native Americans. Powwow derives from the Narragansett tribal word for a spiritual leader who receives guidance from dreams.

Modern Diner

Modern Diner: The first ever diner was invented in 1872 in Providence by an entrepreneur, Walter Scott. He decided to serve food from a freight wagon, which was horse-drawn. The diner's mobility lead to it being a great hit. Scott, soon had a roaring business, because he was moving his shop to where ever the people needed food. The meals served in diners are simple and hearty. The Modern Diner, at 13 Dexter Street, in Pawtucket is one such place, and it has made it to our list of top restaurants in Providence, by the sheer taste of the historic food served.